Nigerian international could be available for injury hit Saints next weekend

Fulham 3-1 Brighton and Hove Albion

Image Credit: Fulhamish

Fulham moved into the top six of the Premier League (yes you read that right, the top six) after a superb win over high-flying Brighton at the Cottage. Despite being pegged back in the second half, Fulham turned the tide and closed the game out well to continue our impressive bounce back following our previous home game which saw a humiliating defeat at the hands of struggling Wolves. Arsenal will be the favourites when they visit the Cottage on Sunday, but they’ll be given a hell of a game by Marco Silva’s side, George Rossiter reports for Fulhamish.

Bernd Leno

Had quite a lot to do, especially in the first half as Brighton flexed their quality and fluidity in the final third. A powerful effort from a tight angle early on from Joao Pedro was saved well by Leno to prevent Brighton instantly getting a handle back on a game that Fulham had led early on. Then made an even better save from Adingra 35 minutes in from close range. Of course it was aimed very close to the German, but the positioning and reflexes to parry it away from danger was very impressive. Won’t have liked conceding a fairly slow-moving strike from Baleba, but the accuracy of his effort was enough to find the corner, ultimately. 7/10.

Timothy Castagne

Image credit: Fulhamish

Potentially a surprise inclusion considering Kenny Tete’s recent run of form, but also maybe not considering Tete’s previous injury record. Wasn’t bad or overly rusty, but especially in the first half there was far too much of a Brighton threat coming from his side of the pitch. Time after time Mitoma and especially Estupinan were able to fire in dangerous crosses that Castagne was unable to close down and block. Had quite a quiet second half after that, with little defensive work to do but ultimately also not providing much of an attacking threat. 6/10.

Issa Diop

Solid if not spectacular from Diop. The most important thing to note is that’s yet another game where he’s bought composure and quality to a backline and not produced a complete clanger. That maturity and focus will really give Silva a headache when Andersen returns from injury. Cynics may say he could have done more for the Brighton goal, but realistically he was having to cover for a ball that had gone over another defender’s head. Biggest strength was his ability in the air, often getting the better of Joao Pedro on long balls and defending brilliantly from corners. 6.5/10.

Calvin Bassey

Looked a bit ropey for me in this game, probably summed up by describing his highlight of the game. A double block from two efforts via Estupinan and Pedro was impressive, but came as a result of his own mistake. On numerous occasions in the first half he seemed to be caught ball watching, something that continued into the second half. First he lets Van Hecke go free to head just over from a corner, and moments later a long ball drifts over his head which leaves Fulham outnumbered on the edge of their own box, and Baleba capitalized to score. Not awful by any means, just too many little errors across the 90. 5.5/10.

Antonee Robinson

Really mature performance from Fulham’s captain. With the number of crosses coming in from the left hand side, Robinson was constantly getting to balls first ahead of Adingra and Pedro to prevent opportunities for our opposition. When Fulham attacked, he looked to get involved, when Brighton had the ball he was ready in position, he was just constantly switched on in and out of possession. These are the performances and traits of a player that leads by example, which will be why the armband has been handed to the American twice in the last week. 7/10.

Sander Berge

Considering Berge has gone from strength to strength in recent weeks, this was a quieter display from the Norwegian. The box-style midfield put pay to any chances of Berge showing off his ball progressing abilities for a large majority of the game. Furthermore, a poor challenge from behind on Pedro which led to his booking meant that he could not be overly forceful in his challenges going forward, which was frustrating with him being the holding midfielder of the three. Certainly grew into the game as Fulham improved in the second half, but nothing spectacular to report on here. 6/10.

Alex Iwobi

Not just our match winner but also probably our player of the season so far too. Some of the flicks and turns Iwobi is pulling off at the moment are evidence of a man with the full confidence of his manager and full confidence in his own abilities. His first goal was easy enough but was taken calmly and set Fulham away nicely. His second was not simple by any means. The turn was so intricate giving the Brighton defenders around him, the extra touch taken to manipulate the shooting position was exquisite, and the finish into the bottom corner was beautifully placed. Beyond his goals, Iwobi looked bright on the ball across the pitch and put in the leg work in a more central position. What a guy. 8.5/10. – Man of the match.

Emile Smith Rowe

Not as strong a performance as at Tottenham but I’m still seeing enough to be confident that this more advanced ten position is the one that works best for our England international. The pressure he is able to put on a team’s defenders with his pressing is evident even in games like this one where he was quieter overall. Also got to multiple loose balls in Brighton’s half before their defensive players did, showing a sharpness which wasn’t quite there when he first arrived at Fulham. He’s had good and bad days, but right now I’m content he’s growing into the club as a star player and starting to thrive in a position that suits him best. 6/10.

Harry Wilson

Finally got the start he deserved after a number of wonderful cameos from the subs bench. For all the headlines the winger has made with his game-winning goals in recent weeks, these showings in the last week against Tottenham and Brighton have shown so many strengths in his game. This ability he has to beat his man and then spot either Robinson or the winger ahead of him across the pitch and find him so easily is stunning to watch. If this form and confidence can be maintained, he will be one of our biggest goal threats and creative options all in one. 7/10.

Reiss Nelson

Found him so hard to judge for the majority of his 70 minutes on the pitch. So often he was looking to pass back to Robinson rather than take his man on. It’s hard to know whether that’s due to a lack of options in front of him or a lack of confidence to beat his man, which was his biggest attribute in the substitute cameos he made when he first arrived from Arsenal. If it was a lack of confidence, that could have not been more evident as when he went through on goal and despite multiple opportunities, simply denied himself the chance to shoot until eventually the chance was gone. Hopefully his hamstring injury isn’t too bad. 5.5/10.

Rodrigo Muniz

Thought Muniz was absolutely brilliant here. This is not a man that has a spell on the bench and loses his motivation or sharpness, Muniz simply wants to give his all for the team and to improve every day on the training pitch. Had two efforts go close in the first half, one header from a corner glanced wide in the first 15 minutes before another effort just before half time also went close. Early on in the second half, he spun his man on the halfway line and played a long ball across the pitch on the half volley directly to Nelson. That skill and precision, plus his hold up play, show the progression of the man as a player, we just need another purple patch goals wise. 7.5/10.

Substitutes

Andreas Pereira (70’ for Smith Rowe)

Could have been easy to have lost motivation after being booed onto the pitch by pockets of fans (wrongly or rightly), but you can’t fault him for creating the second goal by finally producing a decent set piece delivery. Didn’t do much bar that, but it was an important contribution nonetheless. 6/10.

Adama Traore (70’ for Nelson)

Provided a threat from both wings either side of Harry Wilson being subbed off. Willingly ran the channels in an attempt to chase after long balls when the striker found themselves out of position and helped seeing the game out by pressing the Brighton defence back and tracking back himself. 6/10.

Josh King (80’ for Wilson)

Wonderful to see Josh make his Premier League debut for the club. Considering his stature, it was particularly impressive how willing he was to throw himself into aerial duels, not to mention he was incredibly hard to dispossess on the ball. Had a couple of lovely passes into Iwobi and overall did not look out of place in a high intensity Premier League fixture. 6.5/10.

Raul Jimenez (80’ for Muniz)

Didn’t really offer much of a threat when he came on and often found himself drifting wide and not occupying the box. Took a man with him which gave Iwobi space to get the shot away for our third, if we’re reaching for positives or things of note. 6/10.

Jorge Cuenca (90+1’ for Berge) came on too late to be fairly assessed.

Marco Silva

For almost all of our time in the Premier League under Silva, this nagging issue of starting second halves poorly has persisted over and over again. It was the opposite here. Fulham went into the break in the lead but were the second best side on the pitch. However, despite Baleba’s goal, we were undoubtedly the better side in the second half and played on the front foot from the moment the referee blew his whistle to kick off the second 45. Also worth commenting on a couple of brave decisions selection wise. Muniz played brilliantly and Pereira created a goal off the bench despite his recent controversies. Lots of credit for the boss here. 8/10.

Enraged Manchester City devours determined Forest at the Etihad

Morgan Gibbs-White is challenged by Ilkay Gundogan during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Credit: Nottingham shire

He helped his team beat off an Ipswich lengthy rally even booting off a goal bound ball off the line last weekend, but Ola Aina’s savior heroics eluded his Nottingham Forest side at the Etihad Wednesday night.

Forest’s keenness was no match for an enraged champions on a mission to stem their winless streak at seven as Manchester City steps on the metal to winning ways defeating the visitors 3-0.

With three changes to his Reds that took down Ipswich on Saturday in winger Anthony Elanga, Nicolás Dominguez, and Alexandre Moreno, Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo purposed to leapfrog a familiar champion fast losing ground this season.

The trio took the place of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Neco Williams and Elliot Anderson who dropped to the bench.

Erling Haaland had the first opportunity of the night after just five minutes, connecting with captain Kevin De Bruyne’s ball in the box only to watch his shot on target strong armed away by Forest goalie Matz Sels.

It was Forest’s turn to forage for goal on counterattack but the skidding sweep off by Josko Gvardiol denied Elanga from making much inroad.

On the eight minute of play however, Bernardo Silva thrusts home the first goal up close having connected with a flashing past De Bruyne’s header.

Almost immediately, the other Silva on the field, Jota, tried to right the wrong on the visitor’s account but his attempt eluded goalkeeper Stefan Ortega’s near post from a tailored pass from Gibbs-White.

The champions responded down the other end but Gvardiol header went wide from an otherwise pristine chance.

In an effort to outpace each other, the attacks went into an end to end crescendo. Forest’s versatile winger Jota Silva turned the spoiler by denying Gvardiol and in the next moment provided a cross back to Gibbs-White but the Forest attacking midfielder saw his attempt clutched by a strong Ortega diving right arm.

Forest relentless in their intention to score but continued to find themselves a goal down.

City clattered back with two chances of their own screeching beyond both side of Sels’ post. The first of the forays was stretched wide by Gvardiol, only for De Bruyne to direct a low shot on the slippery field beyond the post.

Forest’s clearest opportunity to score came on the 29′ as Chris Wood fleet feet saw him go through on goal following a messy back pass by De Bruyne, only for his effort to miss Ortega’s near post by a whisker.

As if tired of the ding-dong battle, City struck on the 30th minute, to double their lead.

The same De Bruyne, whose goofed almost allowed the visitors into the game, fired home after being freed by his fellow Belgium international Jérémy Doku.

A third City goal in the 59th minute from a counterattack sealed the win for City. Doku was located by a Haaland ball thrust into space, only to cut inside before weaving his shot beyond Sels.

Doku’s goal all but deflated the visitor’s fighting spirit but Forest was able to signal to all that the will live to fight another day.

Manchester United should take heed; Forest will be ready to joust again on Saturday at Old Trafford.